MAKING IT EASIER TO BE A BETTER TEACHER

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Here’s our weekly roundup of interesting education stories from around the world. Click each link to dive deeper:

• We hate learning more than ever - and it’s impacting more than just schools according to this article.

• Here’s what parents can do to raise kids with the best people skills.

• Anthropic - ChatGPT’s main competitor - trained their newest model with Pokemon (and that’s awesome).

TECH TALK

Teach coding through play

Coding is becoming an essential skill, but for many students, the thought of writing lines of code can feel overwhelming, abstract, or - let’s be honest - boring. 

Computer science builds problem-solving skills, logical thinking, and creativity - traits that benefit every student, no matter their career path. 

Teachers often struggle to make programming accessible and engaging, especially when many teachers don’t know where to begin.

The Solution: CodeCombat

CodeCombat turns coding into an immersive game where students learn Python, JavaScript, and other programming languages by playing as a hero in a fantasy world. 

Instead of memorizing syntax or working through dry tutorials, students write real code to cast spells, solve puzzles, and defeat enemies - all while building real-world coding skills.

This isn’t just gamified learning - it’s game-first learning.

Here’s why it can be one of the best ways for kids to learn to code: 

• No Experience Needed – Beginners start with block-based coding before transitioning to real Python or JavaScript.

• Automated Feedback & Hints – If students make a mistake, the game guides them with hints, reinforcing concepts without frustration.

• AI-Powered Teacher Dashboard – Teachers can track student progress, view errors in real time, and assign custom challenges—all without needing any coding experience themselves.

How About YOUR Classroom?

Whether you’re a STEM teacher looking to enhance your curriculum or an educator who wants to introduce coding without needing to become an expert, CodeCombat makes it easy to engage students in computer science.

Strategies

• Turn Code into a Classroom Adventure – Use CodeCombat’s classroom mode to create friendly competitions. Students will be motivated to solve coding puzzles to level up their characters and unlock new abilities.

• Personalized Learning Paths – Struggling students can get extra hints and step-by-step guidance, while advanced students can take on more complex coding challenges to keep them engaged.

• Make Coding a Cross-Curricular Experience – Integrate CodeCombat into math lessons (problem-solving), storytelling (game narratives), or even physics (coding game mechanics).

CodeCombat has free and paid plans for classrooms with varying features to check out.

With this type of gamification, students don’t even realize they’re learning because they’re too busy playing the game - but the skills they gain will set them up for success in the digital world of tomorrow.

BRAINY BITS

Are human tutors better?

AI-powered tutoring is on the rise, but can it truly replace human educators, at least when it comes to math? 

This week’s study focus (from 2024) puts ChatGPT to the test, comparing its ability to provide math help against human tutors.

With AI rapidly integrating into classrooms, understanding its strengths and limitations has never been more important.

The Study: AI vs. Human Tutors

To measure the effectiveness of AI-generated help, researchers conducted a randomized trial with 274 learners, assigning them to one of three conditions:

• Control Group: No hints provided.

• Human Tutor Group: Received step-by-step hints crafted by an experienced math tutor.

• ChatGPT Group: Received AI-generated hints, which were unedited and given as-is.

Participants in all groups covered four math subjects: Elementary Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, College Algebra, and Statistics. 

Learners were given a pre-test to assess baseline knowledge, then 1 test with available hints, and finally an exam without hints to measure what they retained.

The Results:

Those receiving ChatGPT hints improved their scores by 17%, while human tutor hints resulted in an 11.62% gain. The control group (no hints) showed only a 1.85% improvement.

However, ChatGPT-generated hints had a 32% error rate. But when it was given a second chance to double check its answers, errors dropped to nearly 0%.

Despite the AI’s occasional mistakes, there was no statistically significant difference in learning gains between students using ChatGPT hints and those using human tutor hints.

One last thing to note is that both the AI and human hint groups spent significantly more time on problems than the control group, suggesting that guided problem-solving led to deeper engagement.

In Your Classroom:

As AI tools become more integrated into education, this study suggests that ChatGPT can effectively supplement math instruction, but not yet replace it. 

Here’s how to successfully use AI in your math class this week:

Strategies

• Verify AI Responses: Encourage students to double-check AI-generated hints for accuracy, especially in multi-step problems.

• Combine AI with Human Guidance: AI can assist, but teacher oversight ensures students aren’t misled by incorrect explanations.

• Use AI for Scaffolding, Not Just Answers: The best learning happens when students use AI hints to work through problems rather than just seeking solutions.

AI is rapidly advancing as a tutoring tool, but it’s not perfect. 

The key? Teachers need to leverage AI to encourage deeper thinking, not replace it.

REFERENCES

This week’s issue adapts information from the following sources:

Tech Talk:

CodeCombat Inc. (2024). Learn to code and use AI, all through the power of play. Retrieved from https://codecombat.com/

Brainy Bits:

Pardos ZA, Bhandari S. (2024). ChatGPT generated help produces learning gains equivalent to human tutor-authored help on mathematics skills. PLoS ONE 19(5): e0304013. https://doi.org/ 10.1371/journal.pone.0304013